Lawyers for the Sensible Sentencing Trust say the Department of Labour was wrong not to prosecute the Government departments that handled the Graeme Burton case.
The trust is involved in a lawsuit filed on behalf of the families of Karl Kuchenbecker, who was murdered by Graeme Burton; and Debbie Ashton, who was killed in a head-on car crash caused by disqualified speeding driver Jonathon Barclay.
The legal timeframe in which such a case can be filed has passed, but the trust on Monday asked Wellington District Court for an extension of time to lay prosecutions against the Police and Corrections departments under Occupational Safety and Health legislation.
Its lawyer Nikki Pender says the extension is needed because her clients had to wait for a response from the Labour Department before taking action themselves.
Police and Corrections will make submissions on the request for an extension next week.
Ms Pender likened the systemic failures in the Burton case to the case in which prosecutions were laid against the Sir Edmund Hillary Outdoor Pursuits Centre.
Six students and their teacher from Auckland's Elim Christian College died in flash flooding while on a canyoning trip run by the centre in 2008.
Meanwhile, the trust has dropped a bid to prosecute individual police and Corrections' staff over their handling of the Burton case.
